On October 7, Walter Johnson hosted its first ever “Sit With Us” in the student commons during lunch
with the help of various faculty. Students of all grades and backgrounds attended the event in hopes of meeting new people.
The app, “Sit With Us”, helps students who have difficulty finding a place to sit locate a welcoming group in the lunchroom. The app allows students to designate themselves as “ambassadors,” thereby inviting others to join them. Ambassadors can then post “open lunch” events, which signals to others seeking company that they’re invited to join the ambassadors’ table.
Stepping into a new school can be a terrifying and stressful experience, particularly in high school. Students around the country struggle with adapting to a new school environment and making new friends. Many schools are now taking action to immerse new students into their community.
“When I attended enrollment meetings for students as a 11th grade administrator, I was inspired to help new students meet other students and make friends. After I talked to a colleague about my idea, she suggested that we start a WJ Sit with Us. We had heard about the app and that the young lady that created it was all over the news,” 11th grade administrator Venitta Tucker said.
A lot of planning went into organizing the first WJ Sit with Us event. The administrators and counselors involved had to generate a list of names, make a roster and extend personal invitations to each student on the list. They also ordered pizza, posted flyers and made a powerpoint to introduce students to the app. And, they needed something to get students talking to each other.
“I had these little centerpieces that a student made for me and I put different interests like sports, hobbies, careers, politics, celebrities so that people could go sit with and chat with someone who shared similar interests,” WJ cWJ ounselor Lisa Sorenson said.
Many students, both veteran and new, took the opportunity to meet new people and make new friends. Those who organized the event conducted a survey and found that students really enjoyed the event and they most enjoyed getting to talk to someone.
“I think that the outcome was very positive and a lot of [students] had a great time,” Sorenson said.
As for future meetings, the faculty involved in organizing the event hope that students will take initiative and host their own lunches.
“My colleague and I can’t organize this every week with our schedules so we hope that students will volunteer to become “Sit With Us” ambassadors where they can earn SSL hours for hosting open lunch events,” Tucker said.
The event was a large success and hopefully students will take to the app to widen their circle of friends.